The fact that children’s books are an essential component in education has been well-known for years. The benefits of engaging with books at an early age are plentiful. The biggest perk is that children, thanks to their boundless imagination, can place themselves in the stories and relate to the character traits of the protagonist. However, character behaviour is not the only important factor, but also their appearance and visual cues. And it’s here where personalized children’s books have a leg up over other reading materials. The possibilities the current technology opens up for the field of books are vast, especially when it comes to the user-friendly editing of the protagonist of a book. If the main character of a children’s book is not visually appealing, this doesn’t mean you should scrap the entire text, since personalized books, like the ones available on Materlu, allow for easy editing of the protagonist to fit the buyer’s taste.
The classic bedtime story, part of the parent-child routine in many homes, didn’t become a custom just because it makes it easier for children to go to sleep. Children’s books have the central goal of stimulating the imagination and entertainingly teach the young ones both vocabulary and vital values, such as courage and kindness. Since their vocabulary will improve over time, children’s books are designed to have the text intertwine with the visuals. This way, the new words are associated with images, which facilitates memory retention. When the child can relate motifs in the story to their own personal experience, the stored information can be retrieved and applied to their personal context. This learning process is especially relevant in the early stages since visual and audible information can be the most effective way to convey foreign concepts to the child.
However, not all visual elements are created equal, just like not every story is to the taste of the reader, e.g. If the reader can’t relate their personal experiences with the contents of the book. This is why personalised children’s books are the best choice. These are stories where the appearance of the protagonists can be designed according to the buyer’s taste: hair colour, hairstyle, eye colour or earrings. You can also customise the protagonist’s name, and also the second character if there’s one. The main goal is to have the story star a character that looks like the reader and has their name, which will increase the kid’s interest in reading. To see oneself majestically soaring through the air or bravely fighting a monster is one of the most fun and exciting experiences one can have. In the end, it’s all about gifting something that the kid will spend endless happy hours on.
Personalise children’s books are not only a unique gift for the small ones, in part because they leave a more lasting impression than traditional books thanks to their original design, but also a new tool they can use to learn new skills. The visual aspect of these books can be enhanced by having the protagonist adopt the features of the kid reading them, making them feel connected not only with the story but also the main star. Thus, that connection between the reader and the book is accomplished via the kid’s personal traits and appearance. Like many studies have proven, this increases the attention span of the kid, which already increases on its own by reading, and boosts the effectiveness of the learning process. For example, concepts linked to a character with a similar appearance to ourselves increases our knowledge retention, since we pay more attention to all the actions performed by the protagonist, and even empathise with their choices.
This synergy between image and text makes these personalised children’s books appropriate for kids in different development stages. There are two approaches: On the one hand, the written text can aid visual elements — on the other hand, the reverse situation can occur, in which images complement the written text. This is subjected to the level of reading skill the child has. For kids in the early stages, visual elements hold more of their attention, and the lines recited out loud by a parent can help contextualise the text. In the early stages, kids don’t have much of a vocabulary, so some concepts are foreign to them, which stimulates their cognitive process. Furthermore, older kids can contextualise both images and text, making the written part a veritable source of information, with the pictures supporting it.
Another benefit of personalised children’s books is that the reader can establish a bond with the supporting cast. In some of Materlu’s stories, it’s possible to personalise a supporting character, aside from the protagonist, who will always be the kid reading them.
It can be a friend, grandparent or one of the parents. Through the lenses of this additional protagonist, the kid will not only relate to their own experiences but also to the ones of their companion. If, for example, in the book, they overcome an obstacle along with their father, the kid will connect those positive feelings not only with the story but also with their dad. At the same time, another benefit is that these personalised books can also be read along with the companion in the book. Living these moments next to a loved one, sharing a joint adventure, is a truly unforgettable experience.
Just like this article posits, the perks found on personalised children’s books are plentiful. They’re fit for many different occasions: at bedtime, to improve reading skills, as a shared experience between family and friends, or just as a unique gift. Furthermore, the positive influence these personalised books have in the cognitive development of children in the early stages have a considerable impact on their academic performance. Personalised books are an effective tool to enhance children’s education at home, but they also have an application in primary school. The perceived increase in their attention span and the improvement in their vocabulary can be used in school to learn contents more easily. Especially when it comes to textbooks, which many children consider lifeless and dull, these personalised books can create a more pleasant and effective learning environment thanks to their custom features.